Mark Lee Lost the Golden Horse Awards But His Movie Won Other Awards

Mark Lee may have narrowly missed out on the Best Actor award…

But as far as the local comedian’s concerned, he still managed to ‘win’ from his trip to Taiwan – an adventure that entailed a whole 14-day quarantine period.

Mark Lee Lost the Golden Horse Awards But His Movie Won Other Awards

According to The Straits Times, Lee went home without a trophy on Saturday night (21 November 2020), but the film he appeared in – local musical comedy Number 1 – still managed to clinch an accolade.

The movie, in which Lee plays the role of a sacked general manager turned drag queen, won the award for Best Makeup and Costume Design.

Malaysian Raymond Kuek, who serves as the film’s stylist, went on stage to receive the award with the film’s director, Singapore Ong Kuo Sin.

Elated, Mr Kueh expressed his gratitude towards the cast and crew of the movie, the Golden Horse Awards judges and his parents for producing a “short but talented man”.

He concluded his speech in Malay: “Thank you to the make-up artists and the team who made this film so good. Terima kasih (Thank you).”

Meanwhile, Ong was left with no doubt about what the achievement meant to the local film-making industry.

Ong said: “We’re going to take this award and what it means back to Singapore and Malaysia and tell the film-makers there: ‘If we can do it, so can you!'”

Though Singapore costume designer Azni Samdin failed to make it for the ceremony, he was outspoken about the win on his Instagram account.

As for Lee, who had earned a nomination for Best Leading Actor at the awards but failed to clinch the deal, he was positive in his loss.

“Even though I didn’t win,” he said, “I gained a lot from my trip here and experienced an internationally prestigious film festival and awards ceremony and got to know many people in the film industry.

“I hope my nomination isn’t just validation for me alone, but can also be an encouragement for people in Malaysia and Singapore working in film. Never give up on your movie dreams.”

At this moment, two of his movies are screening in Singapore cinemas: The Diam Diam Era and, of course, Number 1.

Taiwanese Mo Tzu-yi swept the Best Leading Actor honour for his performance in Dear Tenant, while veteran Taiwanese actress Chen Shu-fang won both Best Supporting Actress and Best Leading Actress accolades for her performances in Dear Tenant and Little Big Women respectively.

Singaporean Tan Boon Wah also did the nation proud when he won the Best Original Film Song award for Your Name Engraved Herein – the main song for the movie of the same name.

Tan wrote the song alongside Malaysian songwriters Keon Chia and Hooi Yuan Teng, while Crowd Lu and the film’s actor Edward Chen performed the title.

Golden Horse Awards 2020

The Golden Horse Awards was one of the few major awards ceremonies conducted (at least physically, that is) this year amidst the whole Covid-19 pandemic.

It was only possible because Taiwan had kept its outbreak largely under control, with attendees from overseas required to undergo a 14-day quarantine period.

Guests who were not scheduled to go onstage also wore customised masks.

During Lee’s own quarantine period, he managed to star in his own mini online series called 李国煌的隔离日记 (Mark Lee’s Quarantine Diary).

Though it was supposed to be a quarantine-specific travelogue, Lee’s journey ended up doubling as a food diary of sorts, after well-meaning friends sent over a plethora of delicacies for him and his wife to feast on.

Featured Image: Facebook (Mark Lee Kok Huang)